z
The /z/ sound: z as in zoo
- Consonant
- Voiced
- High priority for IELTS
Hear it
in zoo
- Lips
- Relaxed
- Tongue
- Tip on the ridge behind the top teeth
- Voice
- On: feel your throat buzz
- Air
- Squeezed through a narrow gap
The sound on its own: recording by Wikimedia Commons contributor, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. Credits
How to make /z/
- 1
Same position as /s/, tongue near the ridge.
- 2
Switch your voice on: a buzzing bee sound.
- 3
Crucially, most plural s and verb s endings are /z/: dogs, plays, becomes.
- Sounds like
- a buzzing bee, 'zzz'
/s/ vs /z/: price vs prize
Every pairSame tongue position, different engine: /z/ buzzes like a bee. Touch your throat; it must vibrate on 'prize', 'plays', 'dogs'. Devoicing final /z/ blurs your grammar as well as your sounds.
1 / 8
Which word do you hear?
How /z/ is spelled
zzzsse
The usual mistake
Devoicing it to /s/: 'eyes' becomes 'ice', 'plays' becomes 'place'. Since /z/ carries plurals and third-person verbs, this error blurs grammar as well as sounds.
Hardest for speakers of
- Spanish speakersno /z/ in Spanish: 'eyes' devoices to 'ice', plural endings disappear
- Mandarin speakersfinal consonants drop or gain a vowel: 'five' becomes 'fi' and plural/past endings vanish
- Bengali speakers/z/ becomes /dʒ/: 'zoo' → 'joo', 'lazy' → 'lajy'
- Vietnamese speakersfinal /z/ deleted or devoiced: 'plays', 'goes' lose their endings
- Thai speakers/z/ devoices to /s/ everywhere: 'zoo' → 'sue'
- Korean speakers/z/ becomes /dʒ/: 'zoo' → 'joo', 'amazing' → 'amajing'
- Russian speakersfinal voiced consonants devoice: 'eyes' → 'ice', 'plays' → 'place'
- Indonesian speakers/z/ devoices to /s/ or hardens to /dʒ/: plural endings blur
Words to practise
Say it and get scored
Read zoo, music, plans, busy, because aloud. Free, no account.
Questions
How do you pronounce the /z/ sound?
Same position as /s/, tongue near the ridge. Switch your voice on: a buzzing bee sound. Crucially, most plural s and verb s endings are /z/: dogs, plays, becomes.
What is the most common mistake with /z/?
Devoicing it to /s/: 'eyes' becomes 'ice', 'plays' becomes 'place'. Since /z/ carries plurals and third-person verbs, this error blurs grammar as well as sounds.
Which spellings make the /z/ sound?
Common spellings include “z”, “zz”, “s”, “se”, as in zoo /zuː/, music /ˈmjuːzɪk/, plans /plænz/.
Does /z/ matter for IELTS?
Yes. This is a high-priority sound. Errors here frequently change one word into another, which examiners hear as reduced clarity (the exact Band 6 wording is “mispronunciation … reduces clarity at times”).